Window sill and head tension guide



March 8, 1960 R. A. ROWLAND WINDOW SILL AND HEAD TENSION GUIDE Filed March 3, 1958 For A. Pom/LAND 6 I ATTORNEY WINDOW SILL AND HEAD TENSION GUIDE Roy A. Rowland, Corpus Christi, Tex.

Application March 3, 1958, Serial No. 718,522

1 Claim. (C1. 20-522) This invention relates to a window sill and head tension guide, for a horizontal sliding window, and has for one of its objects the production of a simple and efiicient window sill track which is preferably made from plastic, or moulded from glass reinforced plastic which is not affected by the very salty and humid atmosphere which is prevalent along the gulf coast of the United States.

A further object of this invention is the production of a reinforced window sill track which is constructed in a manner to efficiently drain so as to avoid the accumulation of moisture thereon or thereunder and to thereby greatly add to its length of life when installed in humid areas.

Another object of this invention is the production of a simple and efiicient head spring or tension guide for a horizontal sliding window, which guide is so constructed as to facilitate the removal of the sash from its supporting track by lifting the sash upwardly.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear throughout the following specification and claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view parts being broken away showing the sill and one type of head spring or tension guide; I

Figure 2 is fragmentary top plan view of the head spring guide shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view, partly in section, of the sill shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the sill shown in Figure l, a portion thereof being broken away;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional View of a horizontal sliding window reduced in size, showing a modified form of sash head guide;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the plastic head guide of the type shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of the weather tension strip of the type shown in Figure 5.

By referring to the drawing in detail, it will be seen that 10 designates the sill of the window frame 11 which .is constructed to support the horizontal sliding sash or sash elements 12 and 13. Suitable vertical sealing strips 14 of a conventional type are located at proper points to seal the sash 12 and 13 at the side ends of the frame and at their overlap portions, and such other window frame structures, as is common in such construction, such conventional structure, however, not constituting part of the present invention, which invention relates to the sill track and head tension guide illustrated in the drawing and described in the following specification.

As is shown in Figure 1, the sill is provided with an outwardly and downwardly inclined upper level face 15 adjacent the inside of the window frame 11, and an outwardly and downwardly inclined slightly lower level outer face 16 leading to the outside of the frame 11. A sill track 17 fits in abutting contact with the fact 15 of the sill 10 and extends longitudinally thereof from one side nited States Patent of the frame 11 to the other. This sill track 17 is formed or extruded from plastic of moulded from glass reinforced plastic, which is not affected by the very salty and humid atmosphere, which renders metal so impractical along the gulf coast of the United States. If desired, color may be impregnated into the product during the manufacturing process for decorative effect.

The sill track 17 is provided with an upstanding horizontally extending track bead or rib 13 along its inner edge, which fits in a groove 19 formed in the bottom edge of the sash 13. The top of the bead 18 is rounded in cross-section. The bottom edge of the sash is spaced above the face 15 of the window sill 10 to permit the sash 13 to freely slide transversely upon the track head or ribv 18 without binding on the window sill 10, while the sash is moving to and from an open or closed position. The sill track 17 fits snugly upon the face 15 of the window sill, and the bottom edge of the rear flange 20 of the track bead or rib 18 also rests upon the face 15 to brace the bead or rib 18 against the weight of the sash 13.

The sill track 17 also carries a second upstanding horizontally extending rounded track bead or rib 21 along the outer edge of the sill track 17, to the top of the head or rib 21 being at a slightly lower level than the top of the track bead or rib 19, and rounded in cross-section, as will be obvious by considering Figure 1. This track bead or rib 21 is parallel to the track bead or rib 18 and fits in the groove 22 which is formed in the bottom rail of the sash 12. The forward flange 23 of the head or rib 12 is spaced from the upper face 16 of the window sill 10. The rear vertical flange 24 is carried by the outwardly and downwardly inclined body portion of the sill track 17, and the lower depending edge of the flange 24 overhangs and abuts the vertical abutment wall 25 of the window sill 10 to brace the bead or rib 21. The sill track 17 is fixed to the face 15 of the window sill 10 by a suitable number of anchoring screws, such as the screw 26 shown in Figure 1. A suitable number of drain apertures 27 are formed in the vertical flange 24, and are inclined outwardly and downwardly from the upper face of the body of the sill track 17, as shown in Figure 1, to drain away any moisture which may accumulate upon the sill track 17 in a direction toward the outer face 16 of the window sill 10. It will be noted that the forward flange 23 terminates above the bottom of the drain aperture 27. A water stop or abutment 28 is carried by the upper face of the sill track 17 to prevent water from flowing the full length of the sill track 17. Such abutment or abutments, if desired may be located at any selected location upon the sill track 17 to direct water or moisture back toward the drain apertures 27. It will be noted that the bottom edges of the sashes 12 and 13 are held above the window sill and only contact the respective horizontal beads or ribs 18 and 21 to facilitate free horizontal sliding of the sash and to also facilitate drainage of water or moisture across the window sill 10 while the beads or ribs provide an efiicient weather seal at the bottom of the sashes 12 and 13.

A head spring guide 29 is carried in a chamber 30 in the upper end of the window frame 11. This guide 29 is provided with a depending central horizontal sash abutment track rib 31 which is box-like in formation. The lower face of the rib 31 is bowed slightly upwardly, as at 32, and the side bottom edges are rounded, as at 33, to provide longitudinal minimum contact sash engaging track rib treads. The rib 31 is provided with substantially parallel upwardly extending side walls 34, each terminating in an outwardly rolled horizontal bead 35 which lies beneath and registers with a related recess in the top wall of the chamber 30. Each head 35 terminates in a lateral downwardly curved spring channel portion 36 having upturned side flanges 37. These side 1 ing ends 52 having outturned terminals.

to that shown in Figure 1.

' flanges 37 carry laterally bent'terminals 38 which snap into the keeper channels 39.formed in the opposite side walls of the chamber 30 to lock the head spring guide 29 in place; The sashi12 is provided with a horizontalcutaway'ledge portion 40 along its upper inner edge and the, v sash'13 is provided with a similar cut-a'wayledge portion engagement with the beads or ribs 19 and 21. of the sill track 17. 1

This head spring guide 29 is formed of resilient material and is designed to snap into place under tension, and it requires no fasteners. Thisguide extends from side jamb to side jamb of the window frame and is ,of sufficient width'to automatically snap into the position shown in full lines in Figure '1 when applied to :the window frame. Because of the structure shown, thesashes 12 and 13 may be easily removed from the sill track 17 merely by lifting so as to compress the head spring guide 29 to the dotted line position shown in Figure 1.

A modified form of the head tension guide is shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7, wherein a horizontalhead plate 42 is suspended in a ch'amber43 in the top of the window frame 44. This head plate 42 is carried by suitablef screws, such as the screw' 45, and is vertically slidable thereon. The head plate 42 is provided with parallel horizontal depending beads 46 which fit in horizontal channels 47 formed in the upper face of the sashes 48 and 49. A tension strip 50 is fixed'to the under face of the top strip 51 of the window frame 44 and is pro: vided with downwardly extending diverging plate-engag- These ends 52 are crimped longitudinally intermediate their lengths, as

at 53. The tension strip is preferably formed of spring bronzeto provide eflicient resiliency. In this form of head guide, the sashes 48 and 49 may be lifted upwardly for removal from the frame and from a sill track similar The tension strip 50 and the head plate 42 run from side to side of the window frame.

The sill track, the head spring guide and the head plate will also drain l ght ains and o den a o su d y from under the window sash., The center waterstop is to serve as a weather strip base when the windows are closed, as well as to retard the flow of water behind the outside sash. ,The water stop 28 maybe secured in any suitable manner by being moulded 'as part of the struc-' ture, or otherwise secured. 4

It should be understood that'certain detail changes in design may be made to accommodate the structure to various types of window construction without departing from thespirit of the invention, so long as these changes fall within the scope of the, appended claims.

provided in itstop wall with spaced parallel recesses and also h vin its sidewalls formed withlinwardly facing keeper channels, top rails forsaid sash provided at their adjacent inner-edges with facingcomplementary guideway forming cut-awayledge portions and also having their bottomrails provided at their lower'faces with parallel grooves, a non-metallic sill track secured to the bottom of the window frame and having spaced ribs fitting in related grooves aforesaid, and, anon-metallic head-spring guide havinga cross sectional profile which includes a substantially U-shaped medial portion whose lower transverse bight has slidingengagement within the said guideway forming ledge portions: and whose upturned side walls are connected at their upper edges with arcuate inverted bead portions lying-beneath and adapted to register'with-said recesses in the top wall of the chamber, and the outer edgeof each of said head portions connecting with an inner leg of a related spring channel whose outer leg has. an vangularlydisposed terminal for detachable jsnapin and snap-out engagement with the keeper channelsinthesicle walls of the chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Love et a]. .Nov. 19, 1957 

